Welcome to the only cookie you need in your life, my Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, a recipe with “Life Changing” in its title for very good reason. These cookies are truly life changing!
They are paleo-friendly, gluten-free, grain-free, and they can be made vegan and nut-free too, which means that people with various food aversions, allergies, and what not, will likely have their lives changed too. And that texture? They are lightly crispy on the outside, perfectly soft and chewy on the inside, and they melt in your mouth.
How the Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie was born
This recipe was created by mistake! We were returning home from a family vacation, and during the car ride home, I was craving tahini and chocolate, two of my favorite things. When we got home, I threw my luggage down and ran straight to the kitchen to make my quick and easy Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Tahini Truffles.
But as I started mixing the dough, I wasn’t that excited anymore – I wanted cookies! So I tossed the bowl of dough in the fridge and came back about 30 minutes later, and decided to experiment by adding an egg and baking soda to the already freezing cold dough. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I formed cookies and baked them.
But you guys…the result was magic. The exact proportion of the dough ingredients, plus my new technique of adding the dough and baking soda to the hard (cold) dough, led to a thick cookie with the perfect crisp on the outside and soft, chewiness on the inside.
And depending on what chocolate chips you use, dare I say that this recipe gives Levain Bakery a run for its money, but even if you don’t agree, the one thing we can all agree on, is that the ingredients are healthier for you, and these cookies make you feel good!
What ingredients do you need to make these Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies?
That’s a great question and I’m glad you asked. I am going to list them all out for you here, along with substitutions that I know work as well. If I haven’t covered anything, feel free to scroll through the comments left by others readers, who have kindly shared their substitutions! And if you still have a question, just send me a message on Instagram, that’s always the quickest way to get a hold of me!
Almond Flour
I created this recipe with almond flour, and that’s because I love sneaking in extra protein from the almonds as well as those healthy fats — think of these as cookies that keep you full instead of leaving you hungrier! If you are nut-free or can’t find almond flour (and also, I get that almond flour is expensive), you can substitute for oat flour, regular flour, coconut flour, all in the same ratio – 1 cup!
Tahini
For people that are new to tahini, tahini is ground up sesame seeds, that becomes a paste. The consistency is like a nut butter that looks like peanut butter, and the best way I can describe the taste, is that it tastes nutty.
But it’s nut-free. I know, not too helpful – ha! So many people have reached out to tell me that they weren’t big fans of tahini before discovering this recipe, and that this recipe has completely changed their mind about it!
My recommendation is to find a liquidy tahini for the best result. I always recommend Soom Foods Tahini, which I purchase on Amazon, but Whole Foods also makes a decent one! And so does Trader Joe’s!
If tahini just isn’t your thing, you can substitute the tahini for any nut butter you like: almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, and even sunflower seed butter. Just know that if you use sunflower seed butter, the cookies will be green inside! Why? Because of the reaction between baking soda and sunflower seeds! It’s kind of cool…think of doing that to impress your friends on St. Patrick’s Day!
Maple Syrup
Now, you guys! This recipe makes 16 cookies and only calls for 1/2 cup of maple syrup, which I think is pretty damn impressive. I love using maple syrup because I love that maple taste, but others have used liquid sweeteners with success! I also know that honey works, as does coconut sugar. If you are using coconut sugar, just make sure that your tahini is nice and liquidy, since you aren’t getting the extra moisture from the liquid sweetener.
Egg
This recipe calls for one egg! And you can definitely substitute the egg for a flax egg. To make a flax egg, all you do is get out a small bowl, and whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal with 3 tablespoons water, and let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken. And yes, you treat it like the regular egg, and add it to the dough batter after the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, along with the baking soda.
Baking Soda
You need it. This is what make the cookies rise and creates that magical texture I talked about above!
Chocolate Chips
To keep this recipe refined sugar free, I used dairy free chocolate chips. But you can feel free to use any chocolate chips you want, or even chop up a chocolate bar and toss it in. And when it comes to the amount, I always go for the full cup of chocolate chips, because when it comes to chocolate, we measure from the heart!
Collagen Peptides
This ingredient is optional. It doesn’t change the cookie texture whether you use it at all. I love adding a scoop of collagen peptides simply to get in some extra protein, and it has no flavor, so why the heck not. If you are vegan or don’t have any, just omit it and you’ll be A-okay!
Sea Salt Flakes
You don’t need these, but I personally think the addition of the sea salt flakes adds the best touch, for that perfect combination of sweet and savory!
How to Store Your Perfectly-Baked, Life Changing Cookies
This question comes up a lot, and it’s very important that you follow my storage instructions. Why? Because these cookies don’t contain any preservatives that would allow you to keep them on your kitchen counter for two weeks, you need to store them properly 🙂
They can stay out for 1 day, but then I recommend transferring them to a glass storage container and keeping them in the refrigerator. They will last for up to one week. But you guys – if you are anything like me, the entire batch will be gone in a matter of a few days! To warm them, you can place them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up or just let them get room temp and enjoy!
You can also freeze the dough if you don’t want to make an entire batch of cookies, and dough will stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months.
Want more variations on my Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Once you’ve made my Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, you can then branch out and make my variations on the OG recipe, including my Pumpkin Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Espresso Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, and even my Gingerbread Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies.
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.
** Photography by Gayle McLeod
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup tahini, I recommend Soom Foods tahini, but any liquid-y tahini will work!
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 heaping cup of chocolate chips
- 1 scoop collagen peptides, optional
- sea salt flakes for topping
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, mix together the almond flour, tahini, maple syrup, collagen peptides (if using), and chocolate chips!
- The dough should be thick. If it's not, add a little bit more almond flour.
- Mix to ensure everything is coated well, and place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP, THIS IS THE MAGIC!
- While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350 F.
- Remove bowl from the refrigerator, and add the egg and baking soda, and mix together until fully incorporated.
- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop dough and form 16 cookies.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies settle before eating!
- The key with these cookies is to slightly undercook them, so that they are nice and crispy on the outside and SUPER CHEWY on the inside.
- Sprinkle sea salt flakes on top.
- Enjoy!
Rate & review
SELECT A RATING and tell me what you think!
What others are saying
These are delicious! Do you happen to have the nutrition facts available?
Hi Anna, I am thrilled that you loved these cookies! Unfortunately I do not provide nutritional info, and you can read more on why here: https://kalejunkie.com/why-i-decided-not-to-include-nutrition-information-on-my-blog/
I’m newly obsessed with tahini for all of its health properties & these cookies are going to be my new go-to treat! My little boy loved them too, so that’s a bonus lol.
Do you have a suggestion to substitute the maple syrup? Can I use another liquid sweetener like allulose or do you think it will change the flavor profile? I also thought about using maybe 1/4C of brown allulose, but was concerned it might be too dry. Just wanted to get your thoughts!
Hi Kat! I am so thrilled that you love this recipe, thank you so much for all of your support! You can try replacing the maple syrup with honey. Unfortunately I have not tried using allulose, so I cannot speak to whether or not it would change the flavor profile. However you are welcome to try it out, and please let me know if it works for you!
I made these last week and they were delicious! I was craving them today so I decided to make another batch. Since I was out of maple syrup, I used honey and a bit of agave. The cookies completely spread out into one another. They’re cooling right now and I’m hoping they’ll taste just as good as the last batch even though they don’t look very nice. I’ll definitely be sure to use maple syrup from now on. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Oh no! So sorry to hear that Lucy! Did you refrigerate the dough first? You might need to refrigerate it for longer to prevent the cookies from spreading out further!
These are truly life changing! We rarely get 16 cookies out of this recipe, as we eat most of the dough straight out of the bowl before adding eggs! Thank you for this “accident” recipe!
Woohoo! I am thrilled that you love this recipe so much, Nataliya! Thank you so much for your kind review!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it several times as written except with 100% dark chocolate chips because I think the cookie is quite sweet as is and with a couple pinches of salt in the batter in addition to the flaky salt on top and love them like this!
I just made them again with small chunks of plain sesame halva instead of the chocolate and they are wonderful! Because the halva is so sweet I reduced the maple sugar a small amount and added a couple pinches of salt to the batter, then topped the cookies with a little flaky sea salt plus some additional toasted sesame seeds. A really delicious variation that I will certainly repeat!
Yum! Maryam, halva sounds like a DELICIOUS addition to these cookies! How fun! Thank you so much for making this recipe, and for leaving a kind review!
OMG! FOllowed the recipe exactly except for the sea salt flakes. So delicious!! This is one I would serve to friends.
Woohoo! I am thrilled that you loved this recipe, Deb! Thank you so much for making it, and for leaving such a kind review!
Amazing!!!! Made them on a whim and it was so fast and easy and they came out delicious. My husband and kids loved them!
YAY! I am so happy that your family loved this recipe, Sophia! Mine does too ☻ Thank you so much for making it, and for leaving such a kind review!
Can’t wait to try these but a family member with a nut allergy rules out the almond flour. Does AP flour or oat flour work as well? Thanks!
Hi Karen! AP flour does work well in this recipe. ☻
Okay so these taste amazing! I subbed almond flour for gluten free flour mix (mainly rice based) because it was what I had on hand, and the dough was very crumbly even after I added more tahini and maple syrup. The dough got super hard in the fridge and it was really hard to mix the egg and baking soda in, so they ended up looking curmbly after being baked. I already ordered the tahini you recommended (I used Trader Joe’s this time) and almond flour for next time because I’m determined to get the texture right!! The dough itself tastes amazing! Going to add a little bit of salt next time, I think that the extra tahini and maple syrup needed a bit of balancing. But excited for these because they taste like regular cookies but BETTER and I didn’t even perfect it yet!
I am so thrilled that this recipe turned out so well for you, Maddy! Thank you so much for making it, and for leaving such a kind review!
Tried these last week and my family loved them! They raved so much I’m making them again today. Can’t wait to share with my MIL who has Celiac – she’ll be so happy.
Woohoo! Thank you so much for making these cookies, Mitzi – I hope your MIL loves them!
I was skeptical but tried them because I’ve had to clean up my eating habits. I have to say WOW! These were truly AMAZING! Thank you! Going to try many more of your recipes!
I am so thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe, Kim! Thank you so much for making it, and for leaving such a kind review!
Made these for the first time today. So delicious!! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are easy to make and there’s minimal ingredients. My hubby also approves! I’ll definitely be making these again soon!
Woohoo! I am so thrilled that you loved this recipe, Katie! Thank you so much for making it, and for leaving such a kind review!